How to Catch a Crayfish (or Two)

If you’ve ever wanted to catch a crayfish (or two), but don’t know where to start, you’ve come to the right place.

Things you’ll need:

a stick

a small stone

1 piece of raw bacon

string (or a shoelace, if you have one)

Things you’ll want:

a bucket

First, find a creek. Look for prime time fishing holes. Avoid fast-moving water and find a deep-ish hole, preferably with some bigger rocks where crayfish like to hide.

An ideal spot may be just past faster water, where the crayfish can hang out and wait for tasty things to zip down and end up in their neck of the woods.

Next, make your fishing pole. Tie the string to the end of the stick, then place a bit of raw bacon on top of your small stone, and tie the other end of the string around it. You’ve got your bait! Turns out crayfish love bacon, too.

Find a nice rock to perch on near your hole, then go ahead and aim to drop your line right in there. Wait for a few minutes. Listen to the water running by. Try not to slip and fall in. Peer into the water and see if any crayfish have come out to nibble on your bait. Once they nibble, they’ll sink their claws in and you can slowly pull them up and into your bucket!

It’s okay if you scream a little. Crayfish are kind of scary, and they look like little aliens.

My brother and I used to catch them and name them after hurricanes. Bertha. Fran. Andrew. ’90s hurricanes.

You can airlift them into your bucket, or let them go back in the creek. Don’t eat them! Eat your extra bacon, instead.